Mr. Penumbra's Twenty-Four-Hour Book Store

A little Sunday reading: "Mr. Penumbra's Twenty-Four-Hour Book Store," one of several wonderful short stories by San Francisco writer Robin Sloan. It's sort of like magical realism for techies:

Back at Supply and Demand. The air is crackÂling with wi-ââfi; Kat and I are havÂing the only spoÂken conÂverÂsaÂtion in the entire place.

She's wearÂing the same red-ââand-ââyellow "BAM!" t-ââshirt as yesÂterÂday, which means a) she slept in it, b) she owns sevÂeral idenÂtiÂcal t-ââshirts, or c) she's a carÂtoon character--all of which are appealÂing alternatives.


I don't want to come out and conÂfess that I work at the offiÂcial book store of the da Vinci Code, but I do want her mega-ââbrain applied to this probÂlem. So I just play the visualization.

"You made this last night?" she says. "Impressive."

We watch the lights curl around each other. We watch again. And again.

Read the rest online or buy it on the kindle.